Implementation of Earned Value Management Tools in the Wendelstein 7-X Project

The stellarator project W7-X, which is currently under construction, has recently implemented several earned value management tools to enable a tighter monitoring of internal processes such as the W7-X assembly process, the diagnostic engineering, and the manufacture of in-vessel components. Specification and implementation of these tools has posed several challenges characteristic of large-scale research projects that are subject to a number of changes during their life cycle. After putting these tools in operation, they have proven as early and transparent performance indicators for project control.